ARLINGTON, Texas: The United States easily beat Bolivia 2-0 in their first Copa America game on Sunday night. Christian Pulisic scored the first goal in the third minute and set up Folarin Balogun’s goal in the 44th minute.
Along with Clint Dempsey, Pulisic is the only US player to have scored and set up a goal in the same Copa America game. He also has 30 goals in 69 international games, which is the fewest of any American player.
“We took off like a rocket with a lot of intensity.” “That goal early on helped us a lot,” Pulisic said. “All around, a pretty strong performance.” We might have scored more goals if we had put it away.
The US and Uruguay are two of six invited guests to South America’s championship. Both are expected to make it out of Group C and into the quarterfinals.
“It’s a huge step forward for us.” “Build up your confidence,” said Antonee Robinson, an American defender. “Not being picky, we could have been a lot better. We could have scored two or three more goals.”
Since 2015, Bolivia has lost 13 straight Copa America games and only one of its last 31 games.
The 11th-ranked US plays Panama on Thursday at Atlanta and closes the group against Uruguay on July 1 at Kansas City, Missouri. No. 84 Bolivia meets Uruguay on Thursday at East Rutherford, New Jersey, then plays Panama on July 1 at Orlando, Florida.
A crowd of 47,873 attended the match under the retractable roof at 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium, which will host a World Cup semifinal in two years. It was 97 degrees Fahrenheit outside (36 Celsius) the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys at kickoff but air-conditioned inside.
Playing a day before his 30th birthday, goalkeeper Matt Turner had three saves in his 25th international shutout. The US improved to 6-0 at AT&T as the Americans opened their fifth Copa America appearance, the first since reaching the semifinals as co-host in 2016.
The US had 18 touches inside the attacking penalty area in the first half and Bolivia had none.
Pulisic put the US ahead 2:23 in, the fastest American goal in 34 competitive matches against South American opponents. He played a short corner kick to Tim Weah and ran toward the penalty area. Weah returned the ball to Pulisic, who took a touch and from just inside the area curled a right-foot shot off the outstretched fingertips of goalkeeper Guillermo Viscarra and into the far upper corner.
Balogun doubled the lead when he received a pass from Pulisic, took several touches and threaded a low, left-foot shot along the ground, past defender Jesús Sagredo and inside Viscarra’s far post for his fourth goal in 13 appearances.
Balogun put the ball in the net again in the 53rd off a pass from Weah, but Weah was whistled for offside when he received the ball from Weston McKennie in the buildup, a decision confirmed in a video review.
Midfielder Tyler Adams, regaining fitness after a back injury, played the first half in his first start for club or country since March 30. Adams and Bologun were inserted into the starting lineup in place of Yunus Musah and Ricardo Pepi in the two changes from the lineup for the 1-1 exhibition draw against Brazil on June 12. Musah replaced Adams at the start of the second half and Pepi entered in the 65th.
Viscarra pushed Pepi’s 79th-minute shot over the crossbar, then stopped Pepi in the 90th on a point-blank initial attempt and another off the rebound.